Mode of adjusting carriage-tops



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

C. W. SALADEE, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

MODE OF ADJ'US'IING- CARRIAGE-TOPS.

Speccation of Letters Patent No. 18,106, dated September 1, 1857.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, 1C. W. SALADEE, of Columbus, Ohio, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Adjusting Carriage- Tops; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and eXact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists in extending the top-prop A (Figure l) from B to C, making B the ulcrum and C thelever by which the joint G is operated upon while seated in the carriage; also in the application of the spring E in combination with the bow supporter F, and the back bow H, which spring is intended to assist the operator in raising the top and to ease it when in the act of falling back.

To enable others skilled in the art of making carriages to use my invention, I will proceed to explain its mode of construction and application in detail.

In the irst place I make the top prop A (Fig. 1) in the usual manner, but extend it back of the resting point B a suiiicient distance to form a lever, and which is shaped as shown from B to C. The eXact length of the lever is governed wholly by the height of the back to the seat on which it is to be applied. Having made the top prop A for both sides of the top as described (with a square hole through the end of the lever at C) I connect the two levers together by means of a lateral rod D D (Fig. 2) which is made of inch or round iron, and secured in the square holes C C with screw taps on each end. Thus when seated in the carriage one hand takes hold of the lateral rod D D at K and by a slight pressure the joints G. G. are thrown back and the top is let down. Experience, however, in the use of a top thus adjusted at once suggests the need of a spring or springs so applied as to diminish the weight ofthe top when in the act of lifting it by the lateral rod before mentioned, and also to prevent the top from :talling back with the full force of its own weight. This I accomplish by the attachment of a scroll spring E to the pivot iron L and back bow H. as seen in Figs. 1 and 3. This scroll spring is about two feet long, before bent, and is made of spring steel if by and heavier, if the top is unusually large or weighty. By this arrangement it will be seen that as the'top is thrown back the said spring E is so operated upon as to bear against the under side of the back bow H, and thus render an important assistance in elevating the top by the lateral rod D. D. Fig. 2, and also in that of easing the top down when in the act of throwing it back. I have likewise used a spiral spring attached to the top prop A, Fig. l, at B and to the projecting rest iron which supports the prop at the latter point, for the same purpose. But the diiiiculty of imparting to this spiral spring the required strength and elasticity-together with the unsightly appearance is created--caused me to abandon its use and resort to the scroll spring iirst described, which is less complicated and more effectual in its operations.

In Fig. 3 it will'be observed that the top prop A is of a different shape from the one represented in Fig. l. It is, however, the same 5 prop only reversed-viz., bringing the end of the top prop at C. (in Fig. 1) to B and B in the same locality of C. and the lateral ro'd is made to connect with the prop at C, Fig. 3, in the same ymanner as in Fig. 1. 4The only object I 'have in this is to give the prop a dili'erent appearance from a side Iview and-thus make a variety of forms on the same principle.

Now I do not claim the lateral rod D D,

Fig. 2, when placed on the outside of the seat back for the purpose otadjusting the top, as new, Letters Patent' havingr been granted to me for the same, dated Sept. 9th, 1856; but l Vhat I do claim as new and of my invention is- 1. Extending the top prop A, Fig. 1, back of the rest iron B a sufficient length to form the lever C in combination with the lateral rod D D as shown in Fig. 2.

2. I also claim the scroll spring E, Figs. l and 3, in combination with the pivot iron L, and the back bow H (or to either of the other three bows) for the purpose of assisting in raising the top, and likewise to prevent its falling with the full force of its own weight, when in the act of throwing it back, substantially as set forth.

C. W. SALADEE.

WVitnesses:

M. G. ToNsLEY, W. GUNTHER' 

